70 Years– 7 Milestones

From Weinheim to Munich:
Under the sign of the five rings

“The Olympic Games in Munich were not only a milestone in German history, but also for us. When you make your contribution to such a monumental event that moves people around the globe, it is without doubt a figurehead and a reason to be considered a top reference in nora’s corporate history.”

Bettina Haffelder, Vice President Sales nora DACH

The staff magazine “Der Freudenberger” dedicated three full pages to this event in its 3/1972 issue.: The Summer Olympics were just around the corner and the Wein-heim-based company was preparing the ground for this world event. Before more than 7,000 athletes from 122 nations fought, ran, jumped and contested for gold, silver and bronze in Munich, production was running at full speed. Just to be part of this story is not enough: the result is expected to be a medal. nora rubber floor coverings were installed on an area the size of about 8.5 football pitches: noraplan in the stadium’s warm-up hall, where athletes prepare for competition – including Ulrike Meyfarth, who surprised the world by winning the high jump at the age of only 16. Elsewhere, norament could be found in the large Olympic sports hall and in the finish line judges' tower on the regatta course.

Anyone who took a closer look soon realised that the top-quality flooring from Weinheim was also under the feet of athletes and visitors in the indoor swimming pool, the wrestling venue and the shooting range. But it was not only the well-known rubber floor coverings from the norament and noraplan range that ensured that athletes and spectators alike were able to perform safely. The Olympic Vil-lage, for instance, was equipped with the needlefelt noraflor, and the cycling sta-dium was given a multi-layer composite flooring made of Burna, cellular rubber mix and cork, using noraplastik. Neither of these remains part of the product port-folio today. A total of around 60,000 square metres of nora flooring were installed in the Olympic Park. Embedded in nature, the venue is still a popular location, not just for sports but also cultural and social events. Concerts, trade fairs, exhibitions and major sporting highlights like world and European championships attract tens of thousands of fans, guests and visitors. The former Olympic Village, where the athletes were accommodated for the duration of the competition, is now a residen-tial complex providing more than 1,800 flats for students in the Bavarian capital.

Project at a glance